Dreams of Another Life
by lilyleia78
Summary: A missing scene for Continuum in which Daniel and AU Jack have a softer conversation. 'Real' Jack/Daneil slash, AU!Jack/Daniel UST


_His dreams were of Jack, as they nearly always were. Jack was dressed all in white, blending almost perfectly with the snowy background in which Daniel found himself trapped - blending except for the big red hole in his left shoulder. It was bigger and bloodier than it had been the last time Daniel had seen it, bigger than it had ever been in reality, but no less awful for Daniel's knowledge of the discrepancy. Jack was screaming at him through the barren landscape, "My kid is fine!" Daniel tried to call out to Jack, to apologize, but the wind whipped the words away even as he spoke them, and Jack was walking away from him now, leaving him alone to face his fate._

Daniel awoke tangled in sweat-damp sheets with his heart beating wildly in his chest, his throat dry and strained as if he really had just been screaming. He fought wildly to disentangle himself, feeling irrational panic overtaking him until…

"Hey, it's okay. Let me," a familiar voice said. For just a moment, Daniel thought it had all been a nightmare – the snow, the extraction ceremony, the life slipping out of Jack's eyes – but then reality reasserted itself as Daniel noted the small, unfamiliar room surrounding him and the painful lack of recognition in the eyes of the man currently straightening his sheets.

"Jack?" Daniel asked groggily, groping about for his glasses. Jack - _not my_ _Jack_, Daniel's mind whispered - lifted them off of the nightstand and gently settled them on Daniel's face. The gesture was so familiar that Daniel had to swallow back a sob.

Jack must have noticed because he paused, leaving his hands on the sides of Daniel's face just a touch too long before stepping back, awkwardly playing with the hem of his dark blue sweatshirt.

"What are you doing here?" Daniel asked, confusion and irritation warring for dominance. Now that he was awake he was aware that the drugs were wearing off and the pain was creeping back up his leg, and he didn't know if he had the strength to deal with this cruel distortion of the man he loved in his current state.

"You were yelling for me," Jack said by way of explanation, "Someone thought it'd be a good idea to fetch me before you strained something."

"Oh," Daniel said lamely, heat rising in his face. "I wasn't…it wasn't actually…um…you…I was calling for."

"Yeah, I figured."

Daniel didn't know what to say to that, so he didn't say anything at all, and a medic bustled into the tiny room before the silence became overwhelming. He took some vitals and injected more pain killer into Daniel's IV line. Jack stayed quiet and kept out of the way, but didn't leave with the doctor.

"Could you…" Daniel began when they were alone again, licking his lips and swallowing around the dryness in his throat. "My throat, could I have some water?" Daniel asked, indicating the pitcher on the table behind Jack.

"Oh, sure," Jack said, turning to pour some into a plastic cup. Daniel tried to pull himself up upright, but his body felt heavy, disconnected from anything to do with him as the drugs worked there way through his system.

Jack, noticing his struggles, got one arm under Daniel to hold him up while he drank, and then eased him back down on the pillows. Jack settled on a chair near the bed and watched in silence as Daniel resettled himself. It was awkward again, but Jack still showed no signs of leaving.

"So best friends, huh?" Jack asked after a while.

Daniel sighed heavily. "Something like that, yeah."

"What do you want from me?" Jack asked suddenly. Daniel was surprised by the note of anger in Jack's voice. Surprised, and confused.

"You came to me," he said slowly.

"Details," Jack said dismissively. "You – all of you – you're watching me like you're measuring me up and finding me lacking. It's…"

"Disconcerting?" Daniel offered.

"Annoying," Jack retorted with a glare.

Daniel smiled despite himself. "Sorry about that. Habit. I guess we're just used to Jack – my Jack – having our backs, having the answers. Or," Daniel corrected himself, "at least knowing who to go to for the answers."

"Your Jack…" Jack repeated, raising an ironic eyebrow as he emphasized the possessive pronoun. Daniel flushed again but didn't deny it. "…sounds like a great guy."

"He is," Daniel agreed. "You are."

"You think I'd like him?" Jack asked with a grin.

Daniel burst out laughing. "No, no I don't. You hate alternate versions of yourself."

Jack pulled back a little, confusion evident on his face. "I don't think I want to know."

"Probably not," Daniel agreed.

They sat in silence again, more companionable this time, and Daniel found himself drifting on the edge of sleep when Jack said, "I don't have the answers you need, and I don't know who to go to for them. But…" Daniel opened his eyes fully to meet Jack's gaze. "…I can have your backs. I'll make some calls, call in some favors. Anyone in particular you want?"

"Hammond. Landry. George Hammond and Hank Landry," Daniel answered immediately. "You."

Jack shook his head. "Never heard of them, but I'll see what I can do. But," he hesitated, "not me. I can't..."

"Charlie?" Daniel asked.

"Charlie," Jack agreed. The sound of his son's name seemed to make Jack antsy. He stood up and edged toward the door. "Hammond and Landry. I'll look them up."

"Jack?" Daniel called, suddenly terrified of watching Jack walk out of the door, out of his life. "Stay? Please. Just for a little while longer."

Jack stopped just shy of the exit and turned around to face Daniel, face somber. "I'm not him."

"I know." Daniel turned away from the other man and closed his eyes. "Stay anyway?"

He heard Jack resettle on the nearby chair even as sleep rushed up to claim him faster than he'd expected. Just before he drifted off he felt his glasses being slipped off his face and what he could have sworn were the press of familiar lips to his own.

***

After the ceremony, after lunch, after laughter and reconnecting and lovemaking, Daniel dreamed of Jack.

Jack was dressed all in white, blending almost perfectly with the snowy background in which Daniel found himself trapped - blending except for the big red hole in his left was screaming something at Daniel, but the wind whipped the words away before they could reach him. Daniel wanted to call out to Jack, but the dream broke before he could make a sound.

Daniel awoke tangled in sweat-damp sheets, heart beating wildly in his chest, a warm weight holding him down.

"Daniel," the warm weight – Jack - whispered, "you alright?"

Daniel opened his eyes and blinked up into concerned brown eyes. "Jack?"

"You were expecting someone else?" Jack asked with a grin. Daniel offered him a half-hearted smile in return, and Jack frowned. "Nightmare?"

"I don't know," Daniel answered truthfully, the wisps of his snow filled dreams slipping away from him under the gentle sweep of Jack's thumb on his cheek.

"I know a sure fire way to chase those away," Jack said with a wicked grin, settling more fully on top of Daniel.

Daniel laughed, and let the heat of Jack's smile, Jack's hands, Jack's love melt away the last of his nightmare.


End file.
